spuren spuren: Athens

Collaborative speculative research and production, various media, 2015
10 images

Conceived as speculative research on the current city of Athens, Spuren spuren applies the concept of collecting and producing traces at the same time. With this in-between process, Mahall/Serbest, together with Adelheid Schulz, aim at recording as well as triggering events and interventions in the city. Two snakes, capital (crisis), beach huts, a desert, and Hölderlin traverse these events and challenge strict oppositions between subject and object, between origin and derivative. They help questioning whether traces can be linked to any origin at all. Can there be determined one source at all, and can localities be maintained in the age of the Internet, enabling complete medial connectedness and diffusion?
Spuren spuren is set up as an open working space. Besides a presentation within the exhibition-space the latter becomes a place of production, of an ongoing process. During the exhibition a travel agency is installed, Greek language courses are offered. A seminar on the golden ratio is taking place. The exhibition becomes an open space. Package holidays and Ouzo refer to Germany’s post-war period clichés concerning Greece. The inclusive situation is part confrontation with well-known preconceptions (especially intact during the crisis) while at the same time opportunity to get involved in conversations about the present.

Hermes, video excerpt, 17 min.

Team: Wencong Li, Julia Zumkeller, Ioannis Michailidis, Sümeyye Yigit, Pavlina Zika, Lina Müller, Rafal Wójcik, Georgios Katsanos, Riin-Kärt Ranne, Anastasia Thanou, Katarzyna Wierzchnicka, Yuxuan Hu, Juliane Schwarz, Christos Antoniou, Philipp Schell, Billur Damla Üfler, Sarah Yaparsidi
With the help of Chrissi Nasz.

Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, 2015

Many thanks to Hans Christ, Keller Easterling, Marina Fokidis, Elina Axioti, Andreas Angelidakis, Aristide Antonas, Angelo Plessas, Evelyn Steiner.